Front squats & training at home

[maokoto]

I have been training at home for around 4 years and am very happy with the progress. I can bench more than my bodyweight with dumbells for reps, Romanian deadlift with 1,5x Bodyweight for reps...all fine.

However I am lacking a bit at leg development. I have no space for a squat rack on my home gym, what I do right now is to power-clean the bar (with horrible technique) and do olympic-style front squats.

The problem is the weight I can clean limits the weight I can squat (right now I am front squatting around 95% of my bodyweight for 6 reps). I like to train with relatively low reps (5-8) and the idea of doing long series of squats doesn´t appeal to me. Also I am powercleaning near my maximum to get the bar up, wich is difficult and unsafe when it is the last set of squats and my legs are sore...

I have tried lunges, with not much results. Even hack squats with barbell, but i feel too awkward doing them.

Any other sugerences? (apart from joining a gym or buying a squat rack)

[BendtheBar]

Have you tried barbell hack squats? Sort of like a deadlift with the bar behind your legs. Sometimes you have to put plates under your heels, or set the weight of the barbell up on a plate to get the bar into a good position, but they seem like a solid exercise.

I would also try dumbbell squats and/or dumbbell box squats. Because you can't go ultra-heavy, I would start limiting the rest between sets to get the intensity up. Say, do 8-10 dumbell squats, rest 60-90 seconds, do another. That sort of thing.

Sumo deadlifts are also very good for the legs.

[maokoto]

Yes I tried the hacks....but they felt very strange and I tended to sort of...deadlift the weight.

I have just read that the duck style snatch grip deadlift is a great quad builder.



I think I am going to try it, and the sumo too. Thanks!!

[maokoto]

I´ve just found another alternative that looks great. Think I would try:

Jefferson squats:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exerc...rsonsquats.htm

[BendtheBar]

The jefferson sounds interesting. I wish I had the spare cash for a trap bar. I would love to see what trap bar squats dofor quad development.

And regarding the hacks...I wonder what percentage of lifters can actually perform them without the movement feeling odd. I would wager it's a low percentage.

[BendtheBar]

I was thinking about the jefferson squats and wondering if there is a tendency with the body to twist when lifting due to the deadlift style grip. If you try them, let me know.

Have you ever thought about getting a dragging sled for leg workouts?

I also thought how intense pushing a car would be for the legs Not very practical, but would be fun to play with.

[maokoto]

Hi

I tried the jeffersons, but they feel very very awkward. My body bent forward as I tried the lift, it is uncomfortable and I think I will not use them.

Also tried the duck style deadlift. It went much better, I could feel the work in my quads, though I felt strange (but not stranger than when I first tried front squats ) I think I will give it a 1 to 2 months try at least.

Not tried to drag a sled, because I don´t have the space. 2 weeks ago I had to push a car, and yes , you can feel it !!!. Would be a good workout to push-park the car into the garage everyday after coming back from work LOL

[BendtheBar]

Keep me posted on the duck style deads.

Any room for a sumo squat rack in your apartment/house?

[maokoto]

Originally Posted by MuscleandBrawn

Keep me posted on the duck style deads.

Any room for a sumo squat rack in your apartment/house?

nop, no rack . But one can do the sumos directly from the world.

[BendtheBar]

I have a very low ceiling basement, so I couldn't put in a full squat rack. This is the "sumo" squat rack I have...I thought maybe you might have room for it.